Fabric that is relatively stiff in one direction and relatively flexible in the other, is widely used in the production of apparel. For instance, such fabrics are used in the waist band of trousers to prevent rolling of the fabric at the waist line. Many types of fabrics have been employed for this purpose. For instance, Stanley, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,163,185 and 3,473,885, has disclosed such a fabric in which the yarns running in one direction are made of rayon that is fusible by treatment with zinc chloride solution, with the yarns in the other direction being cotton. When such a fabric is treated with zinc chloride solution, the rayon yarns become stiff while the cotton yarns remain relatively unaffected.
In a great many fabrics of this type, natural hair such as horse hair has been used as the stiffening elements. Miller, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,571,814, has disclosed such a fabric having nylon monofilaments in the filling direction with cotton yarn in the other direction. A similar fabric is disclosed by Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,071, who solves a problem of displacement of the stiffening monofilaments by employing an adhesive or solvent for the monofilament to stabilize the fabric.
This problem of stabilizing such a fabric is addressed by a number of prior art patents. For instance, Gemignani, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,107, prevents migration of the stiffening monofilaments by longitudinally folding the fabric. Other workers have used a plastic bead to prevent monofilaments from loosening from a fabric. An illustration is Miller, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,300.